PSLV-DL

About:

• This variant of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), tagged PSLV-DL, will be the first to sport two strap-on boosters for providing added thrust.
  
  
• Also, the fourth and final stage of the PSLV — PS4 — will be kept ‘alive’ in space as a useful ‘orbital platform’. For this, it will be equipped with lithium-ion batteries, which are critical to keep the spent stage in orbit.
  • In a normal scenario, the initial stages of the rocket, once they detach, drop back into the sea. However, stage four, after releasing the payload, wanders around in space as junk.
    
    
  • But in the coming mission, the expendable fourth stage will be transformed into a makeshift satellite to reduce space debris. The spent stage will be automatically ‘recycled’ into a valuable platform for space-based experiments.